


A Frightened Teen; A Helpful Detective

by arrowsshootyouforwards



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Holt is a detective, Jake and Gina are teens, Pre-Brooklyn 99, Set in the 90s
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24762334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arrowsshootyouforwards/pseuds/arrowsshootyouforwards
Summary: When teenaged Jake Peralta's mother doesn't come home one night he goes to his local Police Station. Only one detective will take him seriously, Detective Raymond Holt. Holt promises to help Jake find his mother and intends to make good on his promise.
Relationships: Gina Linetti & Jake Peralta, Kevin Cozner/Ray Holt, Ray Holt & Jake Peralta
Comments: 8
Kudos: 167





	A Frightened Teen; A Helpful Detective

**Author's Note:**

> This idea has been bugging me for days and I finally got around to writing it. Hope you enjoy.

It was the start of Spring Break, 1994 and 13-year-old Jake Peralta had been trying to call his mother for the past three hours, with no success. His Nokia 130 had plenty of battery left, what it didn’t have was credit. After the divorce, his mom had rarely been able to afford to get him lavish gifts, but had splurged at his birthday last Summer, so he could have the latest phone and he could have more freedom, including pre-paying for his call time. Sadly, after three hours of failed contact, his minutes were practically dead.

This wasn’t the first time his mother had up and disappeared at this time of year, since his father had left, Spring Break was usually when she would be more distant or even take a trip to collect herself, as it was around this time he had left them. But usually she left a note or had pre-arranged it with his best friend Gina’s grandma, so he at least had a place to stay while she worked through her stuff.

It was Friday and Jake had returned to an empty house, which wasn’t unexpected, his mother had a shift and depending on the buses either one of them could make it home first. What was unusual was the 4 messages on their answering machine. Wondering if Gina would have left him a message, he hit play to listen and start writing them down. Gina hadn’t been in school, her gran had written her a note, excusing her from the week and taken her to see relatives in Florida.

None of the messages were from Gina. The first one was, surprisingly, from his father, a man Jake had barely heard from since he left them. The message, Jake concluded later, was likely the reason for his mother’s absence, as it was his father, explaining that he was getting remarried and wanted his son there, with the option to move in permanently, so they could be a ‘ _real family’_ , though Jake knew he could never leave his mom. The following was from Jake’s grandmother, probably trying to warn his mom of the call from her son which got there first. The other two messages were from his mom’s boss asking where she was. He called back, asking if his mom ever made it to work, she hadn’t.

So, Saturday evening after many hours of trying, and no minutes left on his cell and likely an expensive landline bill on the way, Jake Peralta stood in the rain looking up at the Police Station. It was getting dark and he just wanted to know his mom was OK. The rain had plastered his hair to his forehead, even under his hooded shirt, from walking all those blocks from his house, but he didn’t see himself as having any other option.

The cop behind the desk had a huge moustache, the bottom of which was stained by the strong coffee Jake could smell as he approached the front desk. He barely looked up, from what Jake assumed was his paperwork, when he gruffly asked Jake what he wanted. “I’d like to speak to a cop, or a detective please,” Jake stammered, both from nerves and shivering from the cold.

“What about?” He asked, still not looking up from whatever he was writing. Going on his toes, Jake frowned as he was doing a crossword puzzle.

“My mom’s boss said she never made it to work and I haven’t seen her since I made it back from school yesterday,” Jake told him.

“Sorry kid,” the cop said looking up for the first time, “can’t do a missing person until she’s been gone 48 hours,” he said, preparing to brush Jake off, but the teen interrupted him.

“She’s all I have,” he said, louder than he had intended. “Please, my dad left years ago and now he’s re-marrying and I have nowhere else to go,” Jake told him on the verge of tears.

The cop looked him over and felt a wave of pity, “Alright,” he grumbled, “go on up the elevator, fourth floor,” he said picking up the phone to call ahead. As the elevator’s doors closed, he could hear the guy on the desk talking about him to the person on the other end of the call. The elevator ground to a halt at the fourth floor and the doors opened, creaking on their rollers.

Another detective, similar looking to the first guy was waiting for Jake when he stepped out of the elevator and took him over to his desk. The desk was metal and rusty with a huge boxy computer sitting unused as the detective favoured a paper form, his pen scratching against the sheet as he listened to what Jake had to say. “Do you have anywhere she might have gone?” The man asked after a long silence, making Jake who had been gazing around the precinct and shivering, jump.

“No, I don’t know where she could be,” Jake replied.

“No friends or relatives?”

“No, just us,” Jake clarified.

“Alright kid, here’s how I see it,” the detective began, “your mom got upset by your dad’s call, and she got emotional and has gone on a bender, to make herself feel better.”

“A bender?” Jake asked confused and pulling a face at his crass wording.

“You know, Spring Break, she’s gone to party, let loose and maybe earn some extra money to provide for you by offering her experience to College kids-,” Jake could feel rage building.

“NO!” He screamed as his anger bubbled over, slamming his fist on the desk and capturing the attention of the rest of the room, “NO, don’t you say that about my mom, you don’t know her! She wouldn’t do that!”

“Calm down kid,” the detective warned him.

“No, not until you take this seriously,” Jake shouted, tears streaming over his cheeks. Another detective grabbed hold of Jake, restraining him, “let go, let go of me!” Jake called, he could feel his chest starting to struggle, a combination of the cold, the rain and the shouting as he started having an asthma attack. “Wait, stop, I need my-” Jake was struggling to breathe when he heard a voice, loud and commanding shout over the detectives.

“Detectives cut that out, the kid’s having an asthma attack,” Jake was released, and he scrambled in his pocket for his inhaler. Once he had taken it, the detectives gave him a moment before trying to move on him again. The detective looked about to turn him away when a voice cut in. “Would you like me to step in Thompson?” The once commanding now voice asked, perfectly calm. Jake turned to see a tall black man in a suit, he was eyeing the situation with caution, his eyes shifting between the teenager and his colleague.

“Knock yourself out Holt, waste of my damn time anyway,” the detective grumbled, tossing his pen on his desk and taking hold of his coffee mug he stormed away with the detective that had restrained Jake to get fresh coffee. The black man approached Jake, who scowled after the other detectives.

“Come with me,” the new detective said before walking away, not even checking if Jake was following. He took the teenager into the breakroom, “have a seat, I will be back momentarily,” he instructed, leaving Jake alone. Jake walked in and looked longingly at the vending machine. His stomach growled as he looked at the snacks available. In his pocket he dug out his wallet and pulled out some damp, crumpled bills the machine was never going to accept and pulled a face. After the scene he’d just caused he doubted any detectives out there would change his bills, so silently he forced them back into his wallet and put it back in his wet jeans. “Hungry?” The voice asked. Jake’s growling stomach gave him away before he could respond, the detective held up a box of doughnuts, and apologized for their lack of sustenance, but Jake didn’t really care, there wasn’t much in the cupboards at home, so anything at all was welcome. Friday shifts were usually when his mother did their weekly shop, so he just had leftovers from the previous week. Jake thanked him then caught a look at what else he was holding, “they will likely be too large, but I thought you might prefer over sized clothes to freezing to death,” the detective said, holding out a pair of NYPD sweatpants and matching sweater in the smallest size he could find available.

“Why’re you being so nice?” Jake asked, suspicious, “I don’t have anything to bribe you to find my mom with.”

“I do not require a bribe to do what is technically my job. You can change in the men’s room down the hall, then come to my desk and I will take your statement and see what I can do to track down your mother.” He said as Jake licked the powdered sugar from his fingers.

“Thank you,” Jake said quietly taking the outstretched clothes and plastic bag, he assumed to put his wet clothes in. Jake went down the corridor, looking back before entering the bathroom. Jake had lived in this part of town all his life and rarely had he met a cop that actually seemed to care enough to want to do his job. Once he was changed Jake immediately began feeling better. Returning to the bullpen, Jake looked around to spot the detective’s desk, which was tricky since he wasn’t sat at it. He did remember a name though, Holt, so he looked around to find the desk with the correct nameplate.

Finding it he took a seat, where his curiosity got the best of him and he attempted to snoop, a futile activity as the desk was free from any clutter or personal items, barring a lone photo frame of Holt and another man, a white guy about the same age, both were smartly dressed in the picture but from the way they were standing, Jake couldn’t determine their relationship, if any. “My partner, Kevin,” a voice startled him, alerting to Jake he had been caught. “He is working on his PHD,” Detective Holt explained, pushing a steaming beverage in a paper cup over to Jake, “drink, it will warm you.” He said, taking a seat behind the desk and pulling a pad and pen from one of the equally neat drawers in the desk. “Alright, please start from the beginning,” he said as Jake sipped the bitter black coffee, pulling a face. “My apologies, I should have realised your youth would not have prepared you for the flavour, there is sugar or artificial sweetener available in the kitchen, should you wish to add some,” Detective Holt informed him, gesturing with his arm. Jake turned but from where he was sat, he could see the detectives from earlier sat in there and decided to make do with the bitter drink.

Detective Holt listened to every word Jake told him, writing it word for word, asking him a few times to slow down, so he could catch up. Once Jake had completed his statement, Detective Holt began entering it into the computer system like Jake wasn’t even sitting there. Jake sipped the coffee, pulling less of a face each time he did. It was getting late as Detective Holt tapped away at his keyboard, and Jake could feel himself starting to get tired.

“Alright,” Detective Holt’s voice startled him awake and he sat up straight to listen. “I have logged your mother as a missing person and Police Officers around the states will be keeping watch for her,” he explained. “Do you have anyone you can contact, a grandparent? School friend?”

“My grandparents live out of state and I ran out of minutes trying to call my mom’s cell,” he explained.

“Do you have a number for a friend, I will call for you,” he said, picking up the handset for the desk phone. Jake gave him Gina’s number and waited. It didn’t take long before Gina answered, and Jake could hear her loud responses through the phone.

_“Gina’s phone, who dis?”_

“Miss Gina Linetti? This is Detective Raymond Holt, of the 89th Precinct, Brooklyn, New York. I am calling regarding your friend, Jacob Peralta,” he said.

_“Oh my God, is Jake OK? What happened? Was it messy? Is he dead? Was it nasty?”_

Detective Holt raised his eyebrows and looked at Jake who shrugged. “Jacob is fine, but his mother is missing and he is in need of a place to live until she is located.”

“ _Oh,”_ the girl, Gina, stretched the word out in recognition, _“it’s Spring Break, odd, my grandma never said anything about Jake needing to come stay with us- Oh, hold up, Granny! Jake’s mom is AWOL, we need to go home,”_ Jake heard her say, followed by the older Linetti agreeing that they needed to go. _“We can get there tomorrow, ‘bout 4ish, depending on train times,”_ Gina said.

“Excellent, I will find him alternate accommodation for the night then see him personally to your address,” Detective Holt said before hanging up the phone. “Good news, she and her grandmother will be home tomorrow, around 4pm. I will take you there personally, but tonight you will need somewhere else to stay. Is there anyone else?”

“No,” Jake said, looking down at his lap, feigning checking his phone again to see if his mother had called. She hadn’t.

“I will make some calls, see what I can do.” Detective Holt said to him. “You may return to the breakroom. I shall collect you when I have something.”

Jake shuffled into the breakroom and sank into the lumpy couch, taking out his phone, willing it to ring and be his mother on the other end, safe and sound. Soon he grew bored and attempted to get one of the vending machines to take the damp and crumpled dollars in his wallet to no avail. He’d been in there almost an hour when Detective Holt appeared in the doorway with his coat on. “Come, I have secured you somewhere to spend the night,” Holt began walking away and Jake followed him to the elevator. “Here, put this on,” he handed Jake a much too large waterproof coat which Jake zipped around his form and pulled the hood over his head. He still carried his clothes in the plastic bag.

Detective Holt drove him to his house, instructing him to put together a bag of clothes and items he would need while staying with his friend and waited for him in the car, before driving to another location with him. They pulled up in a somewhat nice neighbourhood, where Holt cut the engine and climbed out with Jake, presumably to walk him to the door. The rain was still coming down hard outside. Holt took Jake’s duffle and to his surprise opened the front door. “Welcome to my home, tonight you will sleep in the guest bedroom, tomorrow you will accompany me to work and I will take you to your friend. I checked with my partner over the phone when I could not find you a room in a shelter for the night.”

Jake looked around the entryway to Detective Holt’s home, it was so much fancier than his own, he was somewhat glad the detective had remained in the car while he packed a bag. He didn’t want to think about what he would think of his home. The man from the photograph on Holt’s desk entered from a room down the hall. “Kevin, good evening, how was your day?”

“Good evening, Raymond, my day was productive, I worked on my thesis with my mentor. Though he did not tell me anything I did not already know. Is this the young man you spoke of on the phone?”

“Apologies, how rude of me, this is Jacob Peralta, the young man who will be spending the night,” Holt said, “Jacob, this is my partner, Kevin Cozner.”

“It is nice to meet you Jacob,” Kevin stretched out a hand, Jake reached out to shake it.

“Please, call me Jake, nobody really uses my full name unless it’s my mom and I’m in serious trouble.”

“Noted, please, allow me to show you to the guest room, please remove your shoes, you can place them in the guest slot on the shoe rack,” he said, taking the duffle from Holt. Jake did as he suggested and followed him up to an elegantly decorated guestroom, with ensuite. “Please, make yourself comfortable, dinner will be ready in 23 minutes, we are having a spaghetti and meatball dish. I hope it is to your tastes,” Kevin spoke just as formally as Holt, Jake could understand why they were together.

“It sounds wonderful. Thank you, for agreeing to let me spend the night.”

“You are welcome,” Kevin took his leave, and Jake laid back on the bed, letting out a long sigh and taking a moment to deflate now that he was alone.

20 minutes later, after freshening up in the bathroom, changing out of the NYPD clothes Detective Holt had given him and hastily trying to remember everything his mother had ever taught him about manners, Jake descended the stairs in search of his hosts.

Dinner, much like his hosts, was a formal affair, and the food was amazing. Holt and Kevin talked to him, asked him about his studies, his school his friends, well, friend. He suspected Holt had briefed him, but Kevin didn’t bring up the subject of his family, for which Jake was grateful. He was also asked to refer to Holt as Raymond, after learning Kevin and he had a no work policy at home and that continued to titles.

After dinner, Jake offered to do the dishes, but was put in his place as a guest and informed that it would throw off their schedule of chores. Kevin noted it was time for Jeopardy and asked Jake if he had ever seen it. He hadn’t, but he asked if he could join him to watch it. Jake watched, trying not to look bored as Kevin and Raymond, when he joined them, gave most of the answers, technically questions he supposed, before the contestants on the show as they sipped their drinks. Kevin was drinking a glass of wine and Raymond a glass of scotch. Jake had been sipping a bottle of water he’d accepted during dinner, as it seemed neither of his hosts were fans of soda, like him.

Jake’s thoughts drifted to his mom, wondering again where she could be as he checked his phone again, and not as discretely as he had hoped he was being. Raymond noticed his unease and offered to let him try calling her one last time before bed from the landline in his office, so he would have some privacy. Jake thanked him and gave it a try, leaving another message asking her to call as soon as she could. “Please call mom, I miss you. I’m worried about you.” He hung up the phone and returned to the lounge where the evening news was playing. Jake having had enough of a bad day excused himself to bed, thanking Raymond and Kevin for his dinner before retreating to the guest room. As he was preparing to climb into bed, Raymond knocked and brought him a bath towel, so he could shower in the morning, Jake thanked him and turned out his bedside lamp after he had left.

That night, Jake lay mostly awake, despite how tired he had felt earlier and how comfortable the bed was. He could hear the rain still beating against the roof and the street outside and as he turned onto his side, he could hear Raymond and Kevin moving around, going about their nightly routines before the noises stopped and he assumed they had gone to bed. Jake sighed, looking at the glowing numbers on his digital watch. It was barely 11 and sleep seemed a long way off.

Jake wasn’t sure what time he eventually drifted to sleep, but he heard the sharp rapping on his door at seven am the next morning, asking if he was awake. It took him a moment to remember where he was, before calling out affirmative that he was awake and would join his hosts for breakfast after a shower. Jake groaned as the hot water hit his body, it was a Sunday during Spring Break and he was up before 11, fortunately he knew he could sleep in when he got to Gina’s. He dressed in what he thought were his most appropriate clothes and went downstairs for breakfast. Raymond was making oatmeal on the stove and offered a bowl to their guest. Jake accepted the bowl and asked if he might add some of the honey that was sitting on the table to sweeten it up, which he did after gaining permission and only a slightly surprised raised eyebrow.

Raymond asked him if he had anything to keep him entertained while he was at the Precinct all day, offering to let him borrow a book from his and Kevin’s extensive collection, but Jake replied that he had brought his homework with him and would do that. If he could concentrate on anything at all, he thought to himself. After breakfast, Raymond offered him the landline again before they had to leave and Jake left his mother another message, asking her to call and explaining he was safe before hanging up.

At precisely 8:35, Jake and Raymond left for the Precinct, with a farewell to Kevin. They arrived exactly in time for Raymond’s shift, where he asked Jake to refer to him once again as Detective Holt. Jake nodded as Detective Holt set him up in the breakroom to work on his homework. Through the day, Detective Holt checked in with Jake at regular intervals, offering him drinks or a chance to stretch his legs. Jake noticed how the other detectives treated Holt differently. When Holt took him out of the Precinct for lunch in a nearby diner, Jake decided to bring it up with him, seeing as all the other detectives had gone for lunch earlier and together.

“So how come you didn’t eat with the other detectives?” He asked as they waited for their meals to be brought.

“Well someone has to hold down the fort. Besides, I didn’t think you’d want to be around Thompson after last night,” Holt said in rebuttal. He wasn’t wrong, but Jake knew it likely wasn’t the only reason.

“I’ve seen how they treat you, it’s not right. They treat you like you’re different.”

“I am the new transfer,” he replied, “they simply don’t know me.”

“They treat you like they know enough and the fact you’re different is a bad thing,” Jake supplied quickly. “Is that why Kevin doesn’t like you talking about work?”

Detective Holt looked down into his coffee, “it is a contributing factor,” he admitted before attempting to change the subject to ask how Jake was doing with his homework.

“Don’t avoid it, why don’t you say something to them? It’s the nineties,” he argued. “You’re a detective, just like they are. And I’ll add, a better one at that. You took me seriously. You gave me a place to stay. I’ll drop it if you want, but first let me say thank you.”

“You are welcome Jake, you’re a wonderful young man and I promise to bring your mother back to you somehow,” Holt told him as their meals were served. After their lunch, Holt let Jake order a slice of pie to take back with him. Jake got back to work, only breaking for a trip to the bathroom, where he slipped into the kitchen, unnoticed [so much for a room of New York’s finest] and switched the sugar and salt over after seeing how much Thompson would put in his coffee and knowing the prank wouldn’t catch Holt – who was in an interrogation – out. As he returned from the bathroom, he saw Thompson putting a perp in the lock-up and head into the kitchen to get himself a fresh mug of coffee, spooning in the ‘sugar’. Jake used his hand to cover his smirk.

Detective Holt returned from his interrogation and saw the time. It was after 4 and the Linetti’s would likely be home, though he called first to check. Hearing an affirmative he went to retrieve Jake from the breakroom and told him to get his things together, noticing the not-so-subtle smirk on his face. It came to a pass while they were waiting for the elevator, as Detective Thompson was returning to his desk and brought the coffee mug to his lips.

In the moment before the elevator doors closed, Jake saw coffee spray everywhere and heard the man cursing up a storm. He held in his laughter until the elevator was moving, causing Detective Holt to raise a questioning eyebrow. “I may have switched the sugar for salt,” he admitted, hoping the telling off he was about to receive was worth it.

“Was that for how he treated you last night?”

“And how he treated you all day,” Jake told him.

Holt turned to look at the elevator doors, only people who really knew him would see the smallest tug of a smile in the corner of his mouth, “Thompson really should read the labels more carefully in the kitchen,” he said leading Jake out to his car as the elevator reached the ground floor and making a grin spread over the teenager’s face.

They arrived at the Linetti residence a short while later. A young girl, whom Holt assumed was Gina, was waiting on the porch for Jake. She stood when the car pulled up and waited, biting her lip from nerves.

Inside the car, Jake looked over at Detective Holt. “Thank you, again, for everything you’ve done for me this weekend,” he said.

“As I have said, you are most welcome. I will be in touch with further details about your mother.”

“You’re gonna keep looking for her?”

“I will,” he nodded. “I promised. Now, do you need help with your bag?”

Jake looked up at the porch where Gina was waiting. “No, thank you. I should be OK. Give my thanks to Kevin please?”

“I will. Goodbye Jake, hopefully we’ll meet again under more pleasant circumstances.”

“Hopefully.” Jake agreed, climbing out of the car and collecting his bag from the back seat. Raymond watched as he jogged up the steps to the porch and dropped his bag as he was enveloped into a warm and welcome hug from the teen girl waiting there. Holt drove away, intending to make good on his promise.

_2 weeks later…_

Detective Raymond Holt looked over the woman sleeping in the passenger side of his car. Karen Peralta had not been an easy woman to track down, but in the end, he had received a good tip from a couple who had seen the news in Wisconsin, claiming to have dropped her off at the local hospital earlier that same day.

After receiving confirmation from the hospital that the woman in question was Karen, he had called Kevin to apologise for missing dinner and driven himself to collect her. Karen had been found in a dairy barn, sheltering from a storm and was being treated for exposure to the elements. Upon further investigation, Karen was horrified by her own behaviour. After hearing news that her ex-husband was getting married, Karen had reached for the bottle, which she had found when he had first left her. She had little memory of her time away, only brief snippets that she couldn’t piece together, and she felt awful she had allowed it to happen and had forgotten to arrange something for her son.

She had vowed to enrol in a program when she returned home, knowing she couldn’t let this happen again, not to her son. Having lost her phone, early in the events, she had not received any of Jake’s messages, but the detective that came to collect her filled her in and she thanked him for looking out for her boy. It was a long drive back to New York and the detective insisted she get some rest.

Without her needing to ask, he took her to the Linetti residence, where her son and his female friend were sat on the porch once more. Jake stood, recognise the car, his face falling as Detective Holt climbed out, but his spirits raising as the man opened the passenger side door and helped his mom out of the car. “Mom!” Jake bounded down the steps and into the arms of his mother, who began fussing, running her hand through his hair and kissing him. “I’m so glad you’re safe,” Jake could feel tears in his eyes and let them fall as he held his mom tightly. Gina came down the steps to greet Karen and helped her inside as Jake turned to Detective Holt. “You kept your promise,” he said, stating the obvious. The corner of the detective’s mouth twitched upwards. “Thank you.”

“As I said, you are welcome. Now go see your mother. I am sure she never wants to be far away from you again.”

Jake nodded and ran inside to be near his mom. Detective Holt returned to his vehicle and drove home to his partner, where he gave him the good news. Kevin had lifted the no work talk ban with regards to Jake’s missing mother and was glad to hear the story’s positive conclusion.

Jake and his mother walked back to their home, after spending the night at the Linetti’s. “Hey mom,” Jake said as they walked.

“Yes Jakey?” She asked, putting an arm around her son’s shoulders.

“I think I know what I wanna be when I’m older.”

“And what’s that?”

“I wanna be a detective, like the one who brought you home to me. Do you think I could make it?” He asked, shy but hopeful.

“Jake,” Karen paused their walk and turned so she and Jake were face to face. “You’re amazing, my brilliant boy and one day, you’re going to make a wonderful detective that New York will be proud of.”

Jake smiled and hugged his mom before they began walking again. “Thanks mom.” He said, “you’re the best. I can’t wait to become a detective, maybe I need to do some research, do you mind if I swing by Blockbuster later to pick up some movies?”

“Not at all, my soon-to-be Detective Jake Peralta.”


End file.
